Now a real pal

Julia Roberts sat down with Marie Claire and talked about winning an Oscar, why social media stinks and her very real imaginary friend.

Two decades into her career, Julia Roberts says she just hit a major, major goal: Working with her imaginary friend.

Roberts told Glee creator Ryan Murphy in an interview for Marie Claire that after years of imagining conversations with legendary actress Meryl Streep, she was thrilled to finally get to work with her on the upcoming film August: Osage County.

"I had many imaginary conversations with Meryl about working together," Roberts said. "When a person goes from being on a pedestal in your mind, to even cooler, better, and more fabulous up close, you get to understand them a little more intimately."

"I think the reason I've been able to enjoy my career is that I always knew, for some reason — even when it was about getting a job to pay your bills and stuff — I always knew that it will surface, it will come," she said. "The things that are correct for me will come to me at the time that I am interested in them and have the capacity, the understanding, to do them."

"Listen, every actor wants to win an Oscar, full stop. It doesn't mean you try to design things around how to accomplish that because that's impossible. Now that I'm a grown-up person and have things of such greater value to pin my idea of joy and fullness on, if something like that were to happen again, my feeling of thrill would be defined in a completely different way."

It doesn't hurt matters that Roberts already has an Oscar, of course. But she says now that she has a family, she has bigger and better things to worry about — like making breakfast.

"It's my privilege and honor to cook three meals a day for my family, and it's a luxury on a level that I didn't even realize, because it can be relentless for me on some days," she said. "You have pride in how you take care of your family."

Between her busy film schedule and family life, one way the star definitely does not unwind is through the internet or social media, which she compares to an unfulfilling dessert.

"It's kind of like cotton candy: It looks so appealing and you just can't resist getting in there, and then you just end up with sticky fingers and it lasted an instant," she said of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their ilk.

And she definitely does not Google herself. "I have too much potential for collapse," she explained. "There's an anonymity that makes people feel safe to participate in hatefulness. I like a good old-fashioned fistfight if people are pissed off at each other. I just feel like if you're really mad and want to have a fight, then put your dukes up."